Marines and Motorcycles

I just saw this article on CNN about how more Marines have died from motorcycle accidents than combat in Iraq over the last year. Looks like they are taking some measures to teach the riders basic safety, as I think KC-10 FE teaches for the Air Force?

Marine motorcycle deaths top their Iraq combat fatalities

Hopefully their efforts will not be in vain.

 

I had about 4 people in the office send me that e-mail with the following......."you see what happens when you ride a murdercycle." bbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

It is mandatory for all Marines to take the course if they want to ride on base,but if they want to just tear it up around town it won't do 'em no good. The problem is most of us are young and don't respect the machine.I found guys like that as soon I was enlisted,the trick is to educate and persuade them to ride at their skill level.But it always depends on the person.
But I never understand how they say more die on bikes than in combat. I've known more to die by my side than on a bike,and the Marines only have about 160,000 active duty. And on my last duty station we had no deaths for 2 years...wtf?

 

I don't think I missed it, but.....
It says nothing about how many died in car accidents for the same period or if the % that die in motorcycle accidents is directly proportional to those choosing to ride rather than drive. How many are "belived" to own bikes is reported, and those evil "sport bikes" are noted, but no comparison to any other time or number in history.
Maybe we should buy them all cruisers and the death toll will drop?

My point isn't that the deaths are not tragic. My point is that all the media alarm BS will help build a case against motorcycling.

 

Just to make sure no one is getting mixed signals, the sport bike course I teach is (at the moment) only for AMC in the USAF. I'm sure the other branches have programs of some kind. I anticipated the rest of the USAF adopting the program but that never happened. The "leadership" only really cares because they need to. I know (since I am heavily involved with the program) that we, the rider coaches, get next to no support. My unit barely tolerates me being a rider coach & most of the other guys have the same difficulty. It's very easy for me to overlook the lack of support simply because I feel priveledged to have even been considered, let alone selected, to be a rider coach. I can honestly say this to anyone, aside from playing with an $88 MILLION aircraft for a living, being a rider coach for the military is the most meaningful thing I have ever been able to do in my life.

For 00VFR, MSF or equivalent training is mandatory for all active duty DOD troops, on or off duty, on or off base. It is mandatory for all reservists/guardsmen on active status. It is also mandatory for any DOD civilians that desire to operate on a DOD installation. It is further mandatory for any dependants that wish to ride on the installation. I know this first hand since my wife was stopped as a random spot checked & even though she was with me, she was not allowed to ride on base. She has since taken the ERC 4 times.

KC-10 FE out...
lane: :usa2:

 

I think they are skewing the numbers a bit.. I think they are combining the numbers of all services motorcycle fatalities and pitting them against the marine combat fatalities. For sure the numbers are enough to be alarmed about, but not the way they are making out to be. Media has a tendency to use real numbers and set them up to gather the biggest ratings...

 

Let them know that the folks who are dying are brand new on bike who feel invincible because they just survived a tour in Iraq or Afgahnistan, had money to burn and bought a bike because their friends did, and had little to no training when they died. Many of the units didn't even know their soldier/sailor/marine/airmen had a motorcycle..... :unsure:

For a country that demands understanding/equality/tolerance, there sure are a lot of hipocrits...........

 

ill say that i have learned something. when it was explained to me it was made to seem that they had to have the coursee to ride period. i do not disagree with the law on base since a crash will effect other solders on base. i neither agree nor disagree with this law being that i do not know enough about it on base to make an informed decision.

that said. if these dudes are stupid enough to ride a bike into a brick wall at 120mph, are they really the ones that we want defending our freedom?

 

The statistics - more motorcycle deaths (25 since Nov 07) than "enemy fire" (are IED's included in enemy fire?) in Iraq (20) says more to me about the Marine's success in Iraq than the failure of motorcycle safety.

Will Bin Laden get me a new Ducati 1098S as part of his terror program?

Stay safe, Marine or not.

 

It is true that they !must! have this course to ride.

when I went through the course to become an instructor, we all came to the same conclusion: these bikes the kids are buying are being advertised that soon as you buy this bike you will own the track, you will have the best cornering ability over everyone else. seems only honda cares with it's stupid hurts program. worst part is, the ones that are dying are of an age that requires little to no training to get a permit. no one tells them that 90% of the equation is training and technique, and if uncle sam says you have to get trained they simply assume that if they don't ride on base they don't need the training. how many people who have car licenses have had training? most, whether it be from parent/freind/school. not one state requires training before a permit, and the rider can ride alone with it. the only way to keep them safe is to require the training for these land locked fighter jets- and the military spends millions to train fighter pilots, that sometimes still crash planes. and one last note: how many hours of training do marines get for using their potentially dangerous M16's? how many hours of training do marines get to ride their potentially dangerous motorcycles?

I want them defending my freedom because they are the best trained, I don't want them riding until they get the best available training!

 

In michigan when you have a permit you are not allowed to ride unless you are under the supervision of an endorsed rider. You are not allowed to ride at night either.

NOBODY obeys this law. I was the ONLY person at my test that did not ride there illegally.

 

er, does this mean you are a nobody? :unsure:

:tongue:

 

I ono. but if i knew thats how it would be i wouldn't have wasted the gas going to get a trailer.